Michelle Ballantyne

17 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when a nationally coordinated systematic approach by all NHS boards to develop local specialist perinatal mental health services will be established.

Answer · Maureen Watt: A nationally co-ordinated systematic approach has been set up with the funding of a national managed clinical network (MCN) on perinatal mental health, which is the first MCN covering mental health in Scotland. The initial aims of the network will be to ensu…

17 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when all NHS boards will have midwives and health visitors with accredited training in perinatal mental health.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government is funding a national managed clinical network (MCN) on perinatal mental health, which is the first MCN covering mental health in Scotland. A core remit of the MCN is to determine what training midwives, health visitors, primary care …

17 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures published by the City of Edinburgh Council, which are reported to show a significant rise in the number of assaults on teaching staff in Edinburgh, particularly in primary schools.

Answer · John Swinney: We want all our children and young people to behave in a respectful manner towards their peers and staff and no teacher should have to suffer abuse. Our refreshed guidance on preventing and managing schools exclusions, published last year, includes guidance o…

17 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that there is early and equitable access available to high quality, specialist perinatal mental health services across Scotland.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Good perinatal mental health care is vitally important in improving outcomes for mothers and their young children. This is why we’ve funded a national Managed Clinical Network (MCN) on perinatal mental health. The MCN brings together specialists on perinatal …

17 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of parents or carers of children with symptoms of ADHD in (a) Midlothian, (b) East Lothian, (c) the Scottish Borders and (d) Scotland who met the NICE eligibility criteria have been offered a referral to a parent training programme in the last 12 months.

Answer · Maureen Watt: This data is not centrally held by the Scottish Government.

17 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of children in (a) Midlothian, (b) East Lothian, (c) the Scottish Borders and (d) Scotland were diagnosed with ADHD in 2016-17.

Answer · Maureen Watt: This data is not centrally held by the Scottish Government.

27 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any NHS boards placing a restriction on patients with primary lymphoedema being seen by specialist nurses and, if so, which.

Answer · Shona Robison: The provision of healthcare is the responsibility of NHS Boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment. It is, therefore, for each NHS Board to decide how best to deliver high quality, safe and sustainable se…

27 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve care for people in (a) the Scottish Borders, (b) East Lothian and (c) Midlothian council area who have primary lymphoedema.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Our Health and Social Care Delivery Plan, published in December 2016, sets out our aim for Scotland to provide high quality services with a focus on prevention, early intervention and supported self-management. The plan sits alongside our National Clinical St…

27 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for round five of the Coastal Communities Fund.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) is a scheme that we have inherited from the UK Government as part of the overall funding settlement agreed in the Fiscal Framework. The CCF is currently a competitive scheme with no guarantee of success and we understand tha…

13 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments by the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition that recent NHS waiting time figures for young people’s mental health services show that the system is failing.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Mental Health Strategy 2017-27 sets out the Scottish Government’s vision to improve mental health in Scotland. There are a number of actions in the Strategy aimed at ensuring that children and young people have good mental health and that agencies act ear…

13 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent news release by NSPCC, which states there has been a 30% increase in the number of people reporting concerns regarding the wellbeing of children who may be affected by a parent’s drug or alcohol abuse across the UK, what its response is to these figures as they re…

Answer · Maree Todd: Protecting children and young people from all forms of abuse is a priority for the Scottish Government, as set out in current national policy and legislation. We recognise the impact of parental substance misuse on children and that is why we provide £600,00…

12 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many inspections of early years providers have been carried out by Education Scotland in each of the last eight years.

Answer · John Swinney: The figures in the following table are the overall total of inspections undertaken over the past eight years. The inspection numbers detailed below are based on academic years. The figures for academic year 2017-18 are those inspections of early learning and …

8 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected intake target for 2019-20 is for undergraduate primary teaching courses, broken down by university.

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not currently available. Each year, the Scottish Government conducts a national teacher workforce planning exercise in partnership with other educational stakeholders. This annual exercise determines the requirement for newly qualified tea…

8 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle the sale of counterfeit alprazolam, known by the trade name, Xanax.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Police Scotland, alongside NHS Health Boards and Scottish Government funded organisations such as the Scottish Drugs Forum, have sought to increase awareness of the health related dangers of taking prescription drugs, whether genuine or counterfeit, through n…

8 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which members of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are able to accept the recent offer of a 20% pay rise in exchange for performing additional roles.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The SFRS Chief Officer, Alasdair Hay and Board Chair, Dr Kirsty Darwent wrote to Scottish Fire and Rescue Service staff on 30 January with pay proposals for a transformed role for fire-fighters in Scotland. The proposal extended to all uniformed staff up to a…

7 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government where in Scotland teenage pregnancy rates are highest, and what measures it is taking to reduce these.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Teenage pregnancy statistics are produced annually by ISD and can be found at: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Sexual-Health/Publications/2017-07-04/2017-07-04-TeenPreg-Report.pdf The Scottish Government’s ‘Pregnancy and Parenthood in Young Peopl…

7 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a statutory requirement for all schools to deliver comprehensive sex and relationships education.

Answer · John Swinney: Relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education is an important part of Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland and statutory guidance to support this was published in 2014. RSHP education should present facts in an objective, balanced and sensitiv…

6 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on providing funded childcare for all children in deferred years before starting school, regardless of the month that the child is born.

Answer · Maree Todd: Our policy on funded early learning and childcare and school deferrals is set out in 'Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 - Early Learning and Childcare: Statutory Guidance' at paragraph 60: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/08/2256/7 . Local…

6 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its reported positive impact on memory, engagement levels and language and reasoning skills, how it plans to encourage musical education, and what its position is on (a) Midlothian Council and (b) other local authorities reportedly having to charge pupils for music tuition, …

Answer · John Swinney: Decisions on investing in music services are a matter for councils. Despite UK government reductions to Scotland’s budget we are increasing overall funding to local authorities, which also have an additional £77 million to spend on services as they have all i…

5 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the concerns raised in the Care Inspectorate report, Scotland’s Early Learning and Childcare – Report on the progress of expanded provision during 2015-16, regarding the private sector’s ability to recruit and retain staff, and how these issues will impact on meet…

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is taking forward a programme of actions to assist and support delivery partners in the recruitment and training of a high quality, diverse workforce to meet the needs of the ELC expansion. We have boosted ELC related capacity in coll…

5 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding by Fair Funding for Our Kids, which suggests that local authorities are underfunding places in private nurseries by up to £492 per child.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has fully funded local authorities to enable them to meet the requirements of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, including the expansion of the entitlement to funded early learning and childcare to 600 hours. Over the p…

5 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Care Inspectorate report, Scotland’s Early Learning and Childcare – Report on the progress of expanded provision during 2015-16, that 41% of Early Years Scotland members plan to provide additional care hours, and how this level of provision will…

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is committed to fully funding the expansion to 1140 hours. This includes ensuring sustainable funding for providers delivering the funded entitlement. The Care Inspectorate report, Scotland’s Early Learning and Childcare – Report, dra…

2 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what adult to child ratio it anticipates at local authority-run nurseries following the expansion of early learning and childcare.

Answer · Maree Todd: We expect local authority-run nurseries to maintain the existing adult: child ratios. For two year olds the ratios are 1:5 and for those aged 3 and over, they are 1:8 where children attend for more than 4 hours per day, and 1:10 if they attend for less than 4…

2 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a recommendation by Fair Funding for Our Kids, what plans it has to put in place a statutory requirement on local authorities to fund places for all three- to five-year-olds with any early learning and childcare provider meeting the quality standard.

Answer · Maree Todd: As I set out in my answer S5W-14904 on 9 March 2018 local authorities already have a duty to ensure that the funded early learning and childcare entitlement is available to all eligible children in their area. As part of our very ambitious pledge to almost d…

2 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide increased funding for local authorities to ensure that they can recruit any additional staff required to provide 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare.

Answer · Maree Todd: We are committed to fully funding the expansion of early learning and childcare to 1140 hours by 2020. We are continuing to work with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), and local authorities, and we are confident that we will agree a multi-…

2 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional graduates will be required to meet the need for an additional graduate in early learning and childcare settings in areas of high deprivation.

Answer · Maree Todd: 435 additional graduates will be required to deliver our commitment to have an additional graduate in nurseries located in Scotland’s most deprived areas by August 2018.

2 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the 12,000 additional staff that are estimated by local authorities will be required for the expansion of early learning and childcare are in place by 2020.

Answer · Maree Todd: We are currently working closely with delivery partners to take forward a programme of actions to recruit and train the additional high quality and diverse workforce required to deliver the expansion in funded early learning and childcare (ELC) entitlement to…

28 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on each of the recommendations made by researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the paper, A Manifesto for Musical Education.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government's position on the five recommendations of ‘A Manifesto for Music Education in Scotland’ is as follows. Recommendation 1. To become registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland all teachers must achieve the Standard for Fu…

26 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the finding by Fair Funding for Our Kids, for what reason one third of three and four-year-olds are reportedly not receiving a funded place under the current 600-hour provision of early learning and childcare.

Answer · Maree Todd: Local authorities have a duty to provide early learning and childcare to all eligible children within their area. As I set out in my answer to S5W-14743 on 6 March 2018, our National Statistics, produced by professionally independent statistical staff, indic…

26 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ring-fence local authority funding for early learning and childcare.

Answer · Maree Todd: Funding provided to local authorities to support the expansion in funded early learning and childcare entitlement to 1140 hours by 2020 is allocated as a specific grant to ensure that it is protected for investment in early learning and childcare. Local autho…